Method for displaying an interactive game having a pre-determined outcome

ABSTRACT

A method for displaying an interactive game having a pre-determined outcome (e.g. a game of finite poker) displays an initial hand of cards, receives a player-specified designation as to which cards are to be held and which are to be discarded, and then displays an intermediate hand generated in accordance with the player-specified designation. Then a final hand is shown, and in those cases where the player-specified designation (Hold/Discard) is inconsistent with a transition from the intermediate hand to the final hand, an entertaining display is shown, such as a sequence of alternative playing cards. In some cases, the initial hand is a winning hand according to a predetermined payout schedule, and the final hand is a winning hand with a higher payout than the initial hand according to the same payout schedule. The disclosed methods can be used with other games, including reel-type games.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to interactive games such as finite poolgames that have pre-determined outcomes, and in particular toimprovements to such games that increase appeal to players.

One class of interactive games is known as finite poker. In a finitepoker game, a player is shown a first hand of cards and invited toselect one or more cards to be discarded. Then the player is shown afinal hand and a payoff is provided if the final hand is a winning handaccording to a predetermined payout schedule.

In finite poker games known to the present inventor, the initial handand the final hand are both predetermined prior to the time the game isstarted. For this reason, there can often be an inconsistency betweenthe player's selection of cards that are to be discarded and thetransition from the initial hand to the final hand. This inconsistencycan interfere with the desired simulation of a card game.

The present invention is directed to an improved method for displayingan interactive game that addresses this and other disadvantages of theprior art.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The preferred card game embodiment described below displays a first handof cards, accepts a player's designation of cards to be discarded, showsan intermediate hand that would result from the player's hold/discarddecisions, and then shows the final hand, predetermined by theparticular game that is in progress. In order to improve the transitionbetween the intermediate hand and the final hand, the system describedbelow displays an entertaining display in place of those cards that arechanged between the intermediate and the final hand. This entertainingdisplay can take many forms, and in one embodiment takes the form of asequence of simulated cards. This provides an added dimension of play asthe player waits for the entertaining display to terminate, after whichtime the player learns the final hand and the payout for the game inprogress.

The system described below provides the further advantage over the knownprior art in that the final hand may provide an increased payout ascompared to the first hand, even in those cases where the first hand isa winning hand according to a predetermined payout schedule. Thus, evenwhen the first hand is a winning hand, the final payout may on someoccasions be greater than the apparent payout indicated by the firsthand. This provides another element of entertainment to the game.

The foregoing paragraphs have been provided by way of generalintroduction, and they are not intended to narrow the scope of thefollowing claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for displaying a simulated cardgame.

FIGS. 2a, 2 b and 2 c present a flowchart of a method implemented by thesystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is one example of play data that have been read and stored atblock 36 of FIG. 2a.

FIGS. 4a through 4 e are schematic representations of displays generatedby the system of FIG. 1 in response to the play data of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a second example of play data that have been read and storedat block 36 of FIG. 2a.

FIGS. 6a through 6 e are schematic representations of displays generatedby the system of FIG. 1 in response to the play data of FIG. 5.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are schematic representations of two alternative formsthat the play data can take.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system 10for displaying an interactive game having a pre-determined outcome, inthis example a simulated card game. The system 10 includes a digitalprocessor 12 that may be a conventional computer, including conventionalmemory devices such as random access memory, read only memory and diskstorage devices. The digital processor 12 generates displays that areshown on a display 14, and the processor 12 dispenses credits via acredit dispenser 24. The display 14 can take any suitable form, usingany appropriate technology, including cathode ray tubes, liquid crystaldisplays, and any other display that provides suitable information tothe player. The credit dispenser can take many forms depending upon theimplementation, and can include a device for issuing a credit to anydesired account, a receipt such as a printed receipt, one or more oftokens, coins, or other forms of money.

The digital processor 12 receives input information from the remainingelements of FIG. 1. In particular, the processor 12 receives finite-poolplay data from a play data source 16. A finite pool in this context is aset of predetermined game outcomes, including winning outcomes andlosing outcomes. Each set of finite-pool play data corresponds to one ofthe predetermined outcomes of the pool. Once a particular play data sethas been received from the play data source, the outcome of theassociated simulated game is completely determined. The play data aredescribed by way of example in the following detailed description.

The play data source can take any suitable form and is not intended tobe limited to any particular source. For example, the play data sourcedescribed in Morris U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,035 has been found suitable, butmany alternatives are possible. In a stand-alone system, the play datasource 16 may correspond to stored data files on any storage medium,such as a magnetic disk, ROM, CD ROM, RAM, or other memory device.

Other elements for generating input signals for the digital processor 12include a credit sensor 18 that responds to credits provided to thesystem 10 by a player. The credits can take many forms, including coins,tokens and debit transactions from any of various accounts, and thecredit sensor 18 can take appropriate forms. The player-specifieddesignation device 20 allows a player to designate Hold or Discard foreach of the displayed cards, and transfers this player- specifieddesignation to the processor 12. The device 20 can also take many forms,and can for example be implemented as any suitable switch, touch screen,array of switches, or the like. A pointing device such as a mouse ortrackball can also be used.

Block 22 indicates additional player controls such as those used by theplayer to select an amount to be bet in a particular game, a gamerequest switch or button, a deal request switch or button, and a cashoutrequest switch or button. As before, the widest variety of devices canbe used to implement these controls, including switch or switch arrays,touch screens, pointing devices such as a mouse or a trackball, and thelike.

Various ones of the elements 18-22 are optional. For example, the creditsensor 18, the credit dispenser 24 and the betting controls and thecashout request controls may be deleted in alternative embodiments.

FIGS. 2a through 2 c illustrate a method implemented by the system 10 ofFIG. 1. The following discussion will first describe the various stepsof the method in general terms, and will then provide specific examplesof the displays generated by the method of FIGS. 2a through 2 c inresponse to two separate sets of play data.

As shown in FIG. 2a, once a player session has begun the system waits inblock 30 until a play credit is received, as indicated by the creditsensor 18 of FIG. 1. The system optionally receives and stores theplayer's bet for the game at block 32, and then waits for the player'sgame request at block 34. Once a game request is received, the system 10reads and stores play data for the current game at block 36. The playdata are determined by the game designer before play begins, and cannotbe altered by the player or the system 10. Thus, the outcome of eachgame is pre-determined by the play data.

The play data stored in block 36 can take many forms, depending upon theapplication. FIGS. 7 and 8 show two alternatives. In the embodiment ofFIG. 7, each set of play data defines five playing cards that make upHand 1 (the initial hand), five playing cards that make up Hand 2 (thedraw hand), as well as a game-specified designation for each card and apayout for the game. Hand 1 in this example corresponds to the dealthand, and Hand 2 corresponds to the cards that will be drawn for eachcard position after a discard.

The five cards of Hand 1 and the five cards of Hand 2 can be encoded inany desired way in the play data. For example, the cards of each handcan be defined by bitmaps included in the play data that define thedesired display on a bit-by-bit basis. Alternatively, the play data caninclude card codes for each of the cards of Hand 1 and Hand 2, or othertypes of codes such as a hand code that uniquely identifies the fivecards of Hand 1 and other hand code that uniquely identifies the fivecards of Hand 2, or a game code that identifies both hands, or keys orindexes into lookup tables. The present invention is not limited to anyspecific manner for indicating the desired cards of Hand 1 and Hand 2 inthe play data, and any approach now known or later discovered can beused.

The game-specified designation of the play data of FIG. 7 includes aparameter for each of the five cards. This parameter has three states:Hold, Discard, Ignore. In the Hold state, the final hand for thecorresponding card position will be the corresponding card of Hand 1.When the game-specified designation is Discard, the corresponding cardof the final hand will be taken from Hand 2. When the parameter is inthe Ignore state, the corresponding card of the final hand will be takenfrom Hand 1 or Hand 2, in accordance with the player-specifieddesignation (Hold/Discard). The game-specified designations are set bythe game designer, and they may not be altered by the player.

Finally, payout information of the play data indicates whether the finalhand is a winning hand, and if so, the amount of the payout.

Many other approaches can be used for the play data, and FIG. 8 showsone alternative. In the example of FIG. 8, the play data only includedata defining Hand 1 and the final hand. As explained above, these twohands can be encoded as a bitmap, as a card code, as a hand code, or asa game code. In this case, the play data does not include game-specifieddesignations, and the necessary information is derived by the processor12 of FIG. 1 by comparing the cards of Hand 1 with the cards of thefinal hand. Similarly, the play data of FIG. 8 does not include payoutinformation, and the digital processor 12 determines the payout based onthe cards of the final hand, as for example with the aid of a lookuptable that defines a payout schedule.

Many other approaches are possible, and the play data are not evenlimited to two-state binary data. Any desired set of cards can be usedto encode the information of the play data.

Returning to FIG. 2a, once the play data have been stored in block 36,Hand 1 is displayed in block 38. Any desired format is used to presenteach of the playing cards of Hand 1 to the player. The playing cards ofhand 1 can be taken from any desired deck of cards, and they are notlimited to the customary four-suite deck commonly used in poker.

In block 40 the system receives and stores a player-specifieddesignation (Hold or Discard) for each of the cards of Hand 1. Dependingupon the rules of the game, the player may be limited in the number ofcards that may be discarded. As an optional feature, the play data mayinclude suggested Hold/Discard designations that can be displayed toassist the player in determining which cards to hold and which cards todiscard in Hand 1.

When the player has completed the selection of Hold or Discarddesignations for each card of Hand 1, the player issues a deal request,which is monitored in block 42. When the deal request is received,control is transferred to block 44, where an index parameter n is setequal to 1. In the following discussion the index parameter n will beused to designate which of the cards of a hand is being considered at agiven time. By way of example, in a five card poker game, the left-mostcard in any hand may correspond to card (1) (n=1) and the right-mostcard in any hand may correspond to card (5) (n=5).

Next, in the group of blocks designated at 46 the system examines card(n) to determine whether the player-specified designation for card (n)is Hold or Discard. If the player-specified designation is Hold, thenthe system shows card (n) from Hand 1 in an intermediate display. If theplayer-specified designation for card (n) is Discard, the system showscard (n) from Hand 2 in the intermediate display. The index parameter(n) is then incremented and control is transferred to block 50. In block50 control is returned to node B until the last card has been updated inthe intermediate display.

Thus, the intermediate display shows the hand that would result if theplayer-specified designations were followed. In this example, theintermediate hand is generated sequentially from left to right, therebysimulating successive cards that are either held or discarded. In analternative version, all of the actions taken in block 46 can bedisplayed simultaneously, such that the intermediate hand replaces thefirst hand all at once as opposed to in a card-by-card fashion.

After the entire intermediate hand has been shown, the index parameter(n) is reset to 1, and the system then examines each of the cards of theintermediate hand to determine in block 52 whether the player-specifieddesignation (Hold/Discard) matches the game-specified designation(Hold/Discard/Ignore) for the card in question. If the two designationsmatch (i.e. both the player-specified designation and the game-specifieddesignation correspond to Hold, or both correspond to Discard, or thegame-specified designation corresponds to Ignore for the card in thequestion), then control is transferred to block 56, where thegame-specified designation for the card in question is used to selectthe card to be shown for the final hand. In particular, if thegame-specified designation for card (n) is Hold, then card (n) of thefinal hand is taken from Hand 1. If the game-specified designation forcard (n) is Discard, card (n) for the final hand is taken from Hand 2.If the game-specified designation for card (n) is Ignore, then card (n)for the final hand is taken from Hand 1 or Hand 2 in accordance with theplayer-specified designation for card (n). Note that the cards of thefinal hand are selected from Hand 1 and/or Hand 2. Thus, the cards ofthe final hand can include only cards of Hand 1, only cards of Hand 2,or any desired combination of cards from Hand 1 and Hand 2, dependingupon the game being implemented.

Conversely, when the test of block 52 indicates that the player hasspecified Hold but the game-specified designation is Discard, or thatthe player has specified Discard but the game-specified designation isHold, then control is transferred to block 54, where an entertainingdisplay is shown in place of card (n). This entertaining display appearsin the location of card (n) for a period of time after the display ofcard (n) of the intermediate hand in block 46 has been terminated andbefore display of card (n) of the final hand has been started in block56. This entertaining display can take many forms, and may for examplebe a sequence of playing card images flashed in rapid succession, amorphing display in which card (n) of the intermediate display makes aprogressive transition to card (n) of the final display, or an animationsequence of images. Other alternatives are possible.

Regardless of the form that the entertaining display takes, it indicatesto the player that a different card will be shown in the final hand thanin the intermediate hand. It thus provides an element of suspense, andit makes the transition from the intermediate hand to the final handdistinctive for those cards where there will be a transition between theintermediate hand and the final hand.

There is an inevitable tension in an interactive finite-pool game:because the game is interactive, there is the illusion that the player'sdecisions may improve his or her chances for success; but because thegame is a finite-pool game, the game outcome is predetermined by thefinite-pool play data. This tension is greatest when the cards of theintermediate hand that result from the players Hold/Discard decisionsare changed to the cards of the final hand. The entertaining displayhelps to preserve the illusion of game play at this time, and therebymakes the game more entertaining.

Blocks 52 through 56 are executed repeatedly for each of the cards ofthe intermediate hand until the last card of the final hand has beendisplayed, as indicated in block 60. In this event, control istransferred to block 62 (FIG. 2c), at which time any credits are awardedthat have been won. In block 64 the system determines if the playerwishes to cash out. If not, control is returned to node E for anothergame. If so, the system provides a cashout credit in block 66 and stopsthe session for the individual player. At this point, the system isready to start another session at node E. As before, the actions ofblock 56 can be displayed to the player simultaneously for all of thecard positions, or sequentially for one card after another asillustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 2b.

FIG. 3 provides one example of the play data that is read in block 36 ofFIG. 2a, and FIGS. 4a through 4 e illustrate the corresponding displaysgenerated by the method of FIGS. 2a through 2 c.

FIG. 4a shows Hand 1 as defined by the first line of the play data ofFIG. 3, and as displayed in block 38. In this example, theplayer-specified Hold or Discard designation of block 40 is as shown inFIG. 4b. Note that the player has asked that cards 1 and 3 be discarded,and that cards 2, 4 and 5 be held.

FIG. 4c shows the corresponding intermediate hand displayed by block 46.Note that cards 1 and 3 in the intermediate hand of FIG. 4c are takenfrom Hand 2 of the play data of FIG. 3, and that cards 2, 4 and 5 of theintermediate hand are taken from Hand 1, in accordance with theplayer-specified designations.

FIG. 4d schematically shows that the entertaining display is providedonly for cards 3 and 5. FIG. 4e shows the final hand, which has beengenerated in accordance with block 60 of FIG. 2b. Note that the finalhand of FIG. 4e is selected from Hand 1 and Hand 2. In particular, theintermediate hand of FIG. 4c corresponds to the final hand of FIG. 4efor cards 1, 2 and 4, and no entertaining display is provided for thesecards. On the other hand, in card 3 the player requested a discard andthe intermediate hand shows a 4 of clubs. The final hand as determinedby the game designer (and encoded in the play data) shows a 7 of spadesfor card three. The transition from the 4 of clubs to the 7 of spades isfacilitated by the entertaining display shown in FIG. 4d. This marks thetransition from the Hand 2 card as requested by the user back to theoriginal of Hand 1 card. The opposite situation is found for card 5,namely the player has designated card 5 as a Hold, whereas the gamedesigner has designated it as a Discard. In this case, the transitionbetween the 3 of clubs of the intermediate hand (the player-designatedHold) to the 9 of hearts of the final hand (the game-designated Discard)is facilitated by an intervening, entertaining display, indicated by thecard E in FIG. 4d.

In this example, each of the five cards of each hand is shown in thesame location on the display for each hand. Thus, card 1 of Hand 1 isreplaced by card 1 of the intermediate hand and then by card 1 of thefinal hand. In the event the entertaining display is shown, e.g. card 5,card 5 of Hand 1 is replaced with card 5 of the intermediate hand, whichis replaced by the entertaining display, which is in turn replaced bycard 5 of the final hand, all in the same region of the display.

FIG. 5 shows a second example of play data, and FIGS. 6a through 6 eshow the corresponding displays generated by the system 10. In thiscase, Hand 1 (FIG. 6a) includes a pair of 5's and is thus a winning handin a payout schedule in which a single pair or better is considered tobe a winning hand. This payout schedule includes a respective payout foreach winning hand. In this example, the player designates that cards 1,2 and 3 are to be held, and that cards 4 and 5 are to be discarded (FIG.6b). This results in the display of the intermediate hand shown in FIG.6c. Note that cards 4 and 5 of the intermediate hand are taken from Hand2 of the play data. As shown in FIG. 6d, an entertaining display isshown in the positions of cards 3 and 5, and then the final hand of FIG.6e is shown. Note that the final hand includes a full house: three 5'sand two 4's. As before, this final hand is determined by thegame-specified designations of the play data, which require that cards1, 2 and 5 be held (selected from Hand 1) and that cards 3 and 4 bediscarded (selected from Hand 2). Note that the final hand is a betterwinning hand than the winning hand of Hand 1. That is, the full house ofthe final hand has a higher payout amount on the payout schedule thandoes the pair of 5's of the winning hand of Hand 1. This illustratesanother feature of the simulated game of system 10, namely that awinning hand may be improved by the simulated play, and the payoutactually received after the final hand has been shown may be greaterthan the payout associated with the initial hand, even when the initialhand is a winning hand.

Note that in the position of card 3 the entertaining display isinterposed between a display of a held card and a drawn card, while inthe position of card 5 the entertaining display is interposed between adisplay of a drawn card and the held card.

Of course, many changes and modifications can be made to the preferredembodiment described above. For example, in one alternative theintermediate hand discussed above is not displayed, and the flow of thegame is from the first hand, to the entertaining display when theplayer-specified designation is inconsistent with the game-specifieddesignation, to the final hand. Also, depending upon the application,the game-specified designation can be limited to Hold and Discard, andmay not include the Ignore state discussed above.

In the foregoing examples, the entertaining display is displayed in thesame position as the corresponding cards of the intermediate and thefinal hand. In other embodiments, the entertaining display may overlapwithout precisely coinciding with a portion of the corresponding cardsof the intermediate hand and/or the final hand. Additionally, theentertaining display may be displayed in a different position than anyof the cards of the initial, intermediate, and final hands, or theentertaining display may occupy the entire display screen, or theentertaining display may move around the display screen. Also, theinitial hand, intermediate hand and final hand may be displayed indiffering portions of the display.

The game that is simulated has been described as poker in the example ofthe drawings. The present invention is not limited to poker simulations,and many different card games can be simulated using the techniquesdescribed above, or modifications thereof. Blackjack and High-Low aretwo examples. Any desired payout schedule, and any desired definition ofa winning hand, may be used. A payout schedule can take any form,including a lookup table or a parameter included in the play data.

As another alternative, it is not required that each hand include thesame number of cards, and the final hand may include more or fewer cardsthan the initial hand.

Reel Game Embodiments

The embodiments described above may be adapted to display other types ofgames, such as reel games where one or more reels of symbols appear tospin and then come to rest at respective reel-stop positions. Eachreel-stop position displays a respective reel symbol. In one embodiment,the reels are spun initially, and they come to rest displaying a firstset of reel to symbols. The player then selects a subset of the reelsymbols to be discarded (i.e. the respective reels to be re-spun), andthe selected reels are then re-spun. After the re-spin is completed, theentertaining display is shown for those reel symbols that must bechanged to produce the final display of reel symbols.

All of the methods described above in conjunction with the finite pokerembodiments may be used in reel-game embodiments, and any symbols may beused on the reels, including all of those that are conventionally usedin reel-type games. In particular, the system and method of FIGS. 1, 2a, 2 b and 2 c can be modified by substituting the following terms toadapt them to a reel-type game:

Card Game Reel-Type Game Card Reel symbol Initial deal Initial spin DealRe-spin Hand 1 First set of reel symbols Hand 2 Second set of reelsymbols Intermediate hand Intermediate set of reel symbols Final handFinal set of reel symbols

In this alternative, re-spinning a reel corresponds to a discard of thecorresponding original reel symbol, and not re-spinning a reelcorresponds to a hold of the corresponding original reel symbol.

The display of the first and final set of reel symbols can take manyforms, including those shown in FIGS. 4a, 4 e, 6 a and 6 e. If desired,various animation sequences may be shown to create the illusion of aspinning reel.

Concluding Remarks

The various features of the systems and methods described above may beused separately from one another. Thus, the entertaining display may beused, whether or not a winning initial hand or set of reel symbols maybe improved during simulated play, and vice versa. Also, these featuresmay be applied to a wide variety of interactive finite-pool games withpre-determined outcomes, including card games, reel-type games, otherlottery games such as simulated ticket games (e.g., scratch ticket andpull tab ticket games), and other casino-type games (e.g., roulette,money wheels, and dice games).

The term “playing symbol” is intended broadly to encompass symbols for awide range of games, including symbols indicative of playing cards, reelsymbols, interactive pull tab symbols, and other gaming devices. Ingeneral, playing symbols will be said to be “replaced” by a player whenthe player designates the playing symbol to be discarded, re-spun, orotherwise replaced in a given set of playing symbols.

The term “set” as used herein is intended to mean one or more, and theterm “subset” is intended to mean zero or more members of a set.

The foregoing detailed description has discussed only a few of the manyforms that this invention can take. For this reason, this detaileddescription is intended by way of illustration and not limitation. It isonly the following claims, including all equivalents, that are intendedto define the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for displaying an interactive game having a predetermined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols and a set of second playing symbols, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; then (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; then (d) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and then (e) displaying the second playing symbol associated with at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the player designation of (c) is consistent with a transition of another one of the first playing symbols to the associated second playing symbol, further comprising; (f) displaying the second playing symbol associated with said other one of the first playing symbols in place of and immediately following display of said other one of the first playing symbols.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the player designation of (c) is consistent with no transition of another one of the first playing symbols to the associated second playing symbol, further comprising: (f) displaying said other one of the first playing symbols from a period that starts before (c) and extends after (d), without display of the entertaining display in the position defined by said other one of the first playing symbols during said period.
 4. The method of claim 1 further comprising: (f) subsequent to (c) and prior to (d), displaying a subset of the second playing symbols associated with the subset of the first playing symbols.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein all of the following are displayed in a common display position during respective display periods: said one of the first symbols during (b), the second symbol associated with said one of the first symbols during (f), said entertaining display during (d), and said one of the first symbols during (e).
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein all of the following are displayed in a common display position during respective display periods: said one of the first symbols during (b), the entertaining display during (d), and the second symbol associated with said one of the first symbols during (e).
 7. A method for displaying an interactive game having a predetermined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols and a set of second playing symbols, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; then (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; then (d) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and then (e) displaying at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein all of the following are displayed in a common display position during respective display periods: said one of the first symbols during (a) and (e), and the entertaining display during (d).
 9. The method of claim 7 further comprising: (f) subsequent to (c) and prior to (d), displaying a subset of the second playing symbols associated with the subset of the first playing symbols.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein all of the following are displayed in a common display position during respective display periods: said one of the first symbols during (b) and (e), the second symbol associated with said one of the first symbols during (f), and said entertaining display during (d).
 11. The method of claim 1 or 7 wherein the entertaining display is displayed in (d) in a different position than any of the first playing symbols.
 12. The method of claim 1 or 7 wherein the entertaining display is displayed in (d) in a position defined by at least one of the first playing symbols for which the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a).
 13. A method for displaying an interactive game having a predetermined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols and a set of second playing symbols, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; then (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; then (d) displaying a subset of the second playing symbols associated with the subset of the first playing symbols designated by the player in (c) to be replaced; (e) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and then (f) displaying at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 14. A method for displaying an interactive game having a predetermined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols and a set of second playing symbols, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; then (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; then (d) displaying a subset of the second playing symbols associated with the subset of the first playing symbols designated by the player in (c) to be replaced; (e) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and then (f) displaying the second playing symbol associated with at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 15. The method of claim 13 or 14 wherein the entertaining display is displayed in (e) in a different position than any of the first playing symbols.
 16. The method of claim 13 or 14 wherein the entertaining display is displayed in (e) in a position defined by at least one of the first playing symbols for which the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a).
 17. The method of claim 1, 7, 13 or 14 wherein said entertaining display comprises a sequence of images indicative of alternative playing symbols.
 18. The method of claim 1, 7, 13 or 14 wherein said entertaining display comprises a morphing display in which said one of the first symbols is transformed into the associated second symbol.
 19. The method of claim 1, 7, 13 or 14 wherein said entertaining display comprises an animation sequence of images.
 20. The method of claim 1, 7, 13 or 14 wherein each of the first playing symbols represents a respective first playing card, and wherein each of the second playing symbols represents a respective second playing card.
 21. The method of claim 1, 7, 13 or 14 wherein each of the first playing symbols represents a respective first reel symbol, and wherein each of the second playing symbols represents a respective second reel symbol.
 22. A method for displaying an interactive game having a predetermined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols and a set of second playing symbols, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols wherein the first playing symbols correspond to a first winning symbol set in a payout schedule, wherein the play data define symbols selected from the first and second playing symbols that correspond to a second winning symbol set in the payout schedule, and wherein the second winning symbol set is characterized by a higher payout than the first winning symbol set in the payout schedule; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; then (d) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and then (e) displaying the second winning symbol set and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 23. The method of claim 22 wherein each of the first playing symbols represents a respective first playing card, and wherein each of the second playing symbols represents a respective second playing card.
 24. The method of claim 22 wherein each of the first playing symbols represents a respective first reel symbol, and wherein each of the second playing symbols represents a respective second reel symbol.
 25. The method of claim 22, wherein the first and second winning symbol sets correspond to respective poker hands.
 26. The method of claim 22, wherein the first and second winning symbol sets correspond to respective sets of reel symbols.
 27. A method for displaying an interactive game having a predetermined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols which correspond to a first poker hand and a set of second playing symbols which correspond to a second poker hand, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; then (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; then (d) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and then (e) displaying the second playing symbol associated with at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 28. A method for displaying an interactive game having a predetermined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols which correspond to a first poker hand and a set of second playing symbols which correspond to a second poker hand, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; then (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; then (d) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and then (e) displaying at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 29. A method for displaying an interactive game having a predetermined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols which correspond to a first poker hand and a set of second playing symbols which correspond to a second poker hand, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; then (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; then (d) displaying a subset of the second playing symbols associated with the subset of the first playing symbols designated by the player in (c) to be replaced; (e) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and then (f) displaying at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 30. A method for displaying an interactive game having a pre-determined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols which correspond to a first poker hand and a set of second playing symbols which correspond to a second poker hand, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; then (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; then (d) displaying a subset of the second playing symbols associated with the subset of the first playing symbols designated by the player in (c) to be replaced; (e) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and then (f) displaying the second playing symbol associated with at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 31. A method for displaying an interactive game having a predetermined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols and a set of second playing symbols, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols, wherein the first playing symbols correspond to a first winning symbol set in a payout schedule, wherein the play data define symbols selected from the first playing symbols and the second playing symbols that correspond to a second winning symbol set in the payout schedule, and wherein the second winning symbol set is characterized by a higher payout than the first winning symbol set in the payout schedule; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; (d) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and (e) displaying the second playing symbol associated with at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the first and second winning symbol sets correspond to respective poker hands.
 33. The method of claim 31, wherein the first and second winning symbol sets correspond to respective sets of reel symbols.
 34. A method for displaying an interactive game having a predetermined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols and a set of second playing symbols, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols, wherein the first playing symbols correspond to a first winning symbol set in a payout schedule, wherein the play data define symbols selected from the first playing symbols and the second playing symbols that correspond to a second winning symbol set in the payout schedule, and wherein the second winning symbol set is characterized by a higher payout than the first winning symbol set in the payout schedule; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; (d) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and (e) displaying at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 35. The method of claim 34, wherein the first and second winning symbol sets correspond to respective poker hands.
 36. The method of claim 34, wherein the first and second winning symbol sets correspond to respective sets of reel symbols.
 37. A method for displaying an interactive game having a predetermined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols and a set of second playing symbols, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols, wherein the first playing symbols correspond to a first winning symbol set in a payout schedule, wherein the play data define symbols selected from the first playing symbols and the second playing symbols that correspond to a second winning symbol set in the payout schedule, and wherein the second winning symbol set is characterized by a higher payout than the first winning symbol set in the payout schedule; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; (d) displaying a subset of the second playing symbols associated with the subset of the first playing symbols designated by the player in (c) to be replaced; (e) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and (f) displaying at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the first and second winning symbol sets correspond to respective poker hands.
 39. The method of claim 37, wherein the first and second winning symbol sets correspond to respective sets of reel symbols.
 40. A method for displaying an interactive game having a pre-determined game outcome which is either a winning game outcome or a losing game outcome, said method comprising; (a) receiving play data from a finite pool of play data wherein said received play data defines the predetermined game outcome, said play data is indicative of a set of first playing symbols and a set of second playing symbols, wherein each of said second playing symbols is associated with a respective one of the first playing symbols, wherein the first playing symbols correspond to a first winning symbol set in a payout schedule, wherein the play data define symbols selected from the first playing symbols and the second playing symbols that correspond to a second winning symbol set in the payout schedule, and wherein the second winning symbol set is characterized by a higher payout than the first winning symbol set in the payout schedule; (b) displaying the first playing symbols; (c) accepting a player designation of a subset of the first playing symbols to be replaced; (d) displaying a subset of the second playing symbols associated with the subset of the first playing symbols designated by the player in (c) to be replaced; (e) displaying an entertaining display to modify the player's designated subset of the first playing symbols when the player designation of (c) is inconsistent with the play data of (a), wherein said entertaining display causes the displayed play data to correspond to the received predetermined game outcome, wherein said predetermined game outcome is independent of the player designation; and (f) displaying the second playing symbol associated with at least one of the first playing symbols and providing said predetermined game outcome to the player.
 41. The method of claim 40, wherein the first and second winning symbol sets correspond to respective poker hands.
 42. The method of claim 40, wherein the first and second winning symbol sets correspond to respective sets of reel symbols. 